Can Psychedelics Reveal Memories of Sexual Abuse?

Dee Dee Goldpaugh

A client arrives for a first appointment at my office. She shares that, during an intentional MDMA experience with a sitter, she recovered memories of sexual abuse by her uncle at age 4. She’s been flooded, disoriented, and overwhelmed since. The next week, a phone call from a young man recalling a “felt state” of abuse by his father. He now cannot have sex and feels confusion and distress. And the next week, a young woman returned from Peru after experiencing night after night of images of being abused by a babysitter in early childhood. None of these people had any clear or specific memory of childhood sexual abuse prior to these psychedelic ceremonies and arrive in therapy with feelings of confusion, shame, disgust, somatic complaints, or flashbacks. Cases in which psychedelics reveal lost “memories” or feeling states related to sexual abuse have been some of the most challenging for both clients and myself as an integration therapist. This article will explore the phenomenon of “psychedelic-recovered memories” and their implication for both psychedelic journeyers and therapists... continue reading.